Traning Methods
by SoftRogue
Summary: A tradition passed down through the generations...


You can blame the people over at the Fanfiction Forum for this one...

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Today in the history of Konoha a rather interesting group of people was gathering for a most unusual reason. For you see, the team of Gennin led by none other than the infamous Copy-Ninja Hatake Kakashi had actually participated in a training exercise the previous day.

Now not to misunderstand; the team of Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke _have_ received training from Kakashi in the past; it would be criminal on the Jounin's part if he hadn't taught them something. However, in the past, most of their training was reminiscence of the old tale of the lion throwing his cub down a cliff to see if it would bounce…er, to see if it would climb back up.

So, upon hearing about how Kakashi had actually _planned_ a training exercise; the other members of the Rookie 9, Team Gai, and their collective Sensei's along with Umino Iruka (who apparently has nothing better to do now-a-days) all gather at seven o'clock at Team 7's normal meeting spot (the one by the Memorial Stone) to learn about the exercise.

Fortunately, Hinata was thoughtful enough to prepare enough food for everyone for their long wait.

After nearly a four and a half hour wait, Sakura was the first member of Team 7 to arrive at the training ground.

"Why are you so late, Sakura-chan? And where is Kakashi-san and the others?" Iruka asked as the pink-haired kunoichi approached the group.

"Well, when Kakashi-sensei says to meet him at seven A.M., that means to meet up with him around noonish; when he says noonish; that means be here at seven sharp; and when he says be here whenever, that means we'd better sleep over here." Sakura said in confusion as she looked around at her peers. "Um…why are you all here?"

"Yoish! Once we heard that my hip and modern rival, Kakashi had led his team on a training exercise; we all had to hear about it!" Maito Gai proclaimed, the sun gleaming of off his teeth.

"Indeed!" Rock Lee declared notebook and pencil in hand. "Please tell us all about your hard work and dedication!"

"Well, about that…" Sakura winced as she looked at the expectant faces as everyone gathered close to her. "It started when Kakashi-sensei took us to the west side of Konoha and…"

"Forget about that!" Ino interrupted as she shoved her way through the group. "What happened to you? You look great!"

And indeed she did; her hair was silky smooth and styled slightly different, her skin was radiant and her nails were perfectly manicured. All in all, everyone present saw Sakura as Rock Lee and Naruto always saw her.

"It happened during our training." Sakura said with a blush. "As I was saying, it started when Kakashi-sensei took up to the west side of town and…"

Once again the kunoichi was interrupted; but this time it originated from the rear of the gathered ninja. In fact, it came from behind a tree next too the only "genius" currently present.

"Pisst. Hey Neji! YO! Neji!" Naruto whispered quietly from behind the tree he was hiding as he tried to grab the Hyuuga's attention.

Which, of course, meant that everyone heard him.

With a sigh, Neji looked at the gathered ninja before turning his attention the blonde troublemaker. "What is it Naruto?"

"Shush! Not so loud! I don't want anyone to hear!" Naruto whispered; his slightly panicked voice echoing across the training ground. "I need a favor. Can you use your Byakugan to make sure everyone is…you know?"

With another sigh, Neji again looked at the other ninja and; seeing no one had a problem with his 'looking' at them quickly used his bloodline limit and turned back to Naruto. "No one here is under any sort of Genjutsu or disguise."

"That's not what I mean. Is everyone here…what they seem to be?" Naruto asked as he carefully came out from around the tree.

Sakura winced in sympathy as everyone else looked around in confusion trying to figure out what he blonde ninja was talking about. "Naruto, it's not like that. The exercise is over."

"You never know! YOU NEVER KNOW!!" Naruto declared, pointing an accusing finger at everyone.

"…Naruto-kun…" Hinata said softly and reached out as if to comfort him (even though she was several yards away).

"GAH!! Stay Away! STAY AWAY!!" Naruto cried out as he jumped behind Shikamaru and began to use the shadow-user as a human shield.

"How troublesome..." Shikamaru said as he was jerked side-to-side, even as his analytical mind picked up on how he was repeatedly positioned.

"Calm down, Naruto. It's all right, its ok." Sakura said encouragingly, trying to calm down her teammate.

"That's what you think!" exclaimed, his eyes slightly wild. "But I know better! I'm not like that, damn it! I'm not! It's Kinjutsu from now on; you hear me!! _Kinjutsu_!!!"

"What's wrong with the dobe now?" Sasuke asked as he wandered onto the training grounds.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura chirped brightly, before glancing at Naruto and wincing. "About yesterdays training…"

"Che. A complete waist of time." The Uchiha said with distain.

"Really now." Kakashi said as he appeared in a puff of smoke; his nose buried in his precious Icha Icha Paradise.

"You!! How _DARE_ you do that to me!!!" Naruto yelled as he pushed his human shield away from him as he glared at his Sensei.

"It was all in the name of training and seeing 'underneath-the-underneath'; which you passed with flying colors. Same with you, Sakura-chan; although the purpose of the exercise wasn't geared towards you. Unfortunately, Sasuke-kun; you failed this exercise."

Naruto and Sakura blinked rapidly as they processed what their Sensei said and meant while the other gathered ninja were shocked that the great Uchiha Sasuke actually _failed_ at something.

"Che, whatever. Nothing there would help me become a better ninja. Although…" Sasuke trailed off as he looked in the distance. "Although, I received many offers that I plan to take up in order to help me achieve my ambition."

With twin looks of horror; Sakura and Naruto shared a glance. "Um…Sasuke-kun?" The pink-haired girl asked carefully. "When you say your 'ambition'; you're talking about killing a certain man…right?"

"No. I'm talking about the resurrection of the Uchiha clan."

"Oh God! I'm going to be sick!!!" Naruto said before dashing off to behind a tree where retching sounds were soon heard.

"Uh…Ino-chan?" Sakura said slowly as she slowly backed away from Sasuke; her face completely white. "Remember when I said that I'd never give up on Sasuke-kun? Well, forget about that; he's all yours. Good luck…you'll need it."

"What sort of training did you put you're Gennin though, Kakashi-kun?" Asuma asked, taking a puff of his cigarette.

"Yes, and what did you do to traumatize Naruto-kun so." Kurenai asked with concern as she glanced over where the sounds of dry heaves could be heard.

With a snap, Kakashi shut his book and gave a penetrating look at everyone. "A very important lesson. One that my own Jounin-Sensei; the Yondaime, taught me."

Everyone present looked at the masked ninja with awe and surprise. The younger generation because they never knew that they were in the presence of someone who was taught by one of the greatest ninja if Konoha's history. The older generation, however, were shocked by what they heard. They knew from experience that separating Kakashi from his precious book was easer than getting him to talk about _anything_ from his past; and doing that was no easy feat.

After a moment of silence, Kakashi continued. "It is a very special training exercise that the Yondaime himself was taught by the Toad Sannin, Jiraiya. He himself was taught the same lesson by the Sandaime; who himself learned the same lesson from both the Shodai and the Nidaime."

Stunned silence permeated the training grounds; only punctuated by the sound of Naruto's throwing up. Seeing that there was nothing else to say, Kakashi reopened his book and picked up where he left off.

"Wait…what was the purpose of the training?" Someone from the crowd asked.

"The most important thing a ninja should learn." Kakashi replied as he looked up with a smile in his eye. "How to spot a trap!"

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I'd like to thank Genocideheart, the Fatuous One, nuclear death frog, Mereo Flere, Jakkun, Mr. Mysterious and everyone else at the Fanfic Forum who, like me, all think that Sasuke is a trap tripper! 


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